+0.18(+0.29%)

-0.80(-0.06%)

0.00(0.00%)

+0.00(+0.07%)

Cord Cutting Company Aereo Continues to Win Legal Battles, Supreme Court Could Be Next

Cord Cutting Company Aereo Continues to Win Legal Battles, Supreme Court Could Be Next

The way we view live television is about to change. In our first episode of "Breakout Profiles" we introduced you to Chet Kanojia and his company, Aereo. It's a company that takes local television channels that are available over the air, captures the signal via thousands of tiny antennae, and sends the signal to your computer of mobile device.

It delivers several channels from CBS to NBC and Telemundo to Sinovision. "The idea that you have to buy everything in this consolidated package is what we're really trying to go after," Kanojia told Breakout in February. "I don't know many 35 and under today that are desperately calling the cable company and saying gosh I want that cable package."

But it's not just those customers who will decide the company's fate. Its very existence may soon be in the hands of the Supreme Court. Traditional broadcasters like Fox, CBS, NBC, and ABC say the company is illegaly distributing their content.

We caught up with Kanojia last month to get his thoughts on his company's growth and their continuing legal battles.

"I don’t know if it will get [to the Supreme Court] or not," he told us. "My confidence is no different, the same and perhaps a little bit better now. As multiple courts have weighed in analyzing Aereo technology...it’s difficult not to feel confident right now."

Despite the legal hurdles Aereo has more than doubled in size this year as it expands into more markets around the country.

"We announced a plan for 22 cities of which we have commercially deployed in about eight or nine now," Kanojia points out, "and we intend to finish off the remaining to get to twenty by the end of the year."

As his company expands and battles in court, Kanojia actually sees a day when his company and traditional broadcasters can coexist peacfully.

"We are in fact in a lot of ways the perfect partner for people who want to innovate in advertising and video because we don’t have a dollar in it," he points out. "We’d love to just build technology that people can monetize better."